Like many authors, I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I feel like I should do it, but I don’t know what to blog about (I don't want to blog about writing advice and I'm not personally all that interesting, so that doesn't leave a lot of topics). When the stats and comments show that people are reading, it seems worth the time I spent on it; when they don't, it feels like a time suck that is taking me away from writing. I love blogging when I do it well—I love connecting with readers—and it just makes me feel bad about myself when I don’t. Etc.

I’ve come to love book blogger memes and I participate in a few. For those who many not be familiar with the concept, a blogger "meme" (in this context) usually involves a blog host that poses a specific question or topic, which participants post about on their own blogs, giving credit and linking back to the host. The purpose is to build content and traffic for your blog, to make new friends, and to support other bloggers.

They are great fun and they definitely do work to build content and traffic. All of the memes out there, though, seem to be by readers for readers. I haven’t come across too many that are for readers by writers (that is, to help writers connect with fans/readers)—so I just invented a couple. I’ve posted a short description of each of them below; the full description, plus the meme graphic that you can snag for your post, is on my website

These memes will be starting in January. The first one starts January 2nd (This and That Thursday) and the second one starts January 8th (Writer At Work Wednesday) and will be ongoing. Of course, the great thing about a meme is that it allows you to participate as frequently or infrequently as you like, so there is never any pressure. I hope these memes are of use to some of you in your blogging endeavors and I look forward to reading your posts if you do participate. Please feel free to spread the word to any other writer/authors who might be interested as well!

Happy New Year!

Writer At Work Wednesday

Share a short excerpt (no more than 250 words) from something you have written (published, trunked, WIP, it doesn’t matter) and explain why this excerpt is important. Maybe it was your first time writing a fight (or sex) scene. Maybe it was inspired by a true life event. Maybe it’s based on a folktale or myth that you adapted. Maybe the setting came to you in a dream. Maybe it was the scene that threw a monkey wrench into the entire story and tanked it. Take us inside your work and give us the backstage pass to your creative process.

This and That Thursday

Every week there will be a theme (three months’ worth of topics posted on my website). Pick any two books that match the theme and discuss them, comparing/contrasting the handling of the material. For instance, if the theme is “books with talking animals,” you might discuss Gulliver’s Travels versus the Chronicles of Narnia, or maybe The Sparrow versus Animal Farm. How is the handling of the material similar? How is it different? Why is each book a good or bad example of how the material was handled? What excites or frustrates you about how the material was handled? What is unique about the way the authors handled the material—what have they contributed to the field—or conversely, how is their handling build on someone else’s work? Whose influence did they draw from? Talk about whatever you want with regards to the two books' approaches. Bridging both the reader and the writer perspective on various works, this meme allows writers to do what they do best—talk about writing, but in a way that is accessible to both writers and readers.